Prime Minister Narendra Modi may be hoping for a pristine river Ganga, but it seems senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi isn't much impressed.

On Thursday evening Joshi raised questions about the ambitious Rs 20,000-crore Ganga clean-up programme, 'Namami Gange', saying it is unrealistic. Kanpur MP Joshi, who was attending an event in Varanasi on the eve of World Environment Day, said: "The government wants to clean Ganga in parts. This is not a well-thought-out decision. Such a scheme cannot succeed even in the next 50 years. There are people who are involved in the 'Namami Gange' programme, yet they don't know about Ganga and its tradition."

Without naming Union Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari - who has plans to use river Ganga for trade purposes - Joshi said: "Those who want to deploy steamers in Ganga don't have the knowledge of history and geography.

It is an unplanned decision. We had tried earlier to develop a river route from Varanasi to Haldia. But it had failed because the water in Ganga is not enough for this purpose".

"While the Centre wants to run steamers in Ganga, I can say that even a big boat cannot be used in its stream because it is gradually reducing into a mere pond. The first priority of the planners should be to ensure that its stream is not choked anywhere," he said.

Joshi reminded that freedom fighter Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya had signed an agreement with the British government before Independence that the flow of Ganga would be uninterrupted at Hardwar. While it was followed till the British period, nobody bothered about it in independent India, Joshi said.

Taking a jibe at the Modi government by comparing politics with pollution in Ganga, Joshi said, "I had started my journey from the place from where the Ganga originates and now I represent Kanpur in Parliament.

From the place where the Ganga is cleanest to the place where Ganga is most polluted, I have travelled a long way in politics. But the truth is that we have also reached the dirtiest stage of politics in the country. Cleaning the river in the given situation wouldn't be enough."

Joshi was earlier the MP of Allahabad and Varanasi. But he was shifted to Kanpur when Modi decided to contest from Varanasi.

Interestingly, the veteran had said a few months back that 'Namami Gange' was an excellent programme which could rejuvenate the river.